Following 2023, the unofficial year of the girl with Barbie and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Emma Seligman’s Bottoms redefined what the queer coming-of-age film could be. A film that film never shied away from being an unrestrained, provocative look at the lives of unpopular teenage lesbians, there was a clear new timeline beginning for the future of these types of films. Enter Siobhan McCarthy’s She’s the He. A film about Alex and Ethan, high school best friends who decide to pretend they are trans girls to get into the girls locker room, only for Ethan to learn, after costumes are shed, that she truly is trans. This film never shies away from the very real realities that a lot of trans people, especially trans youth face. But it never dwells on the lows, resulting in a comedic trans coming-of-age that feels so familiar, yet is unlike anything we have seen before.

Alex wants nothing more than to see the inside of the girls locker room at school, and his best friend Ethan goes along with him. Their latest plan: pretend they are trans so they can be invited in. But as the plan proceeds, Ethan realizes that this isn’t just a farce, but she really is a trans woman. As her relationship with Alex changes, their original plans are threatened to be revealed to the girls, who Ethan is finally beginning to feel part of, as all the students navigate their new found relationships to each other.

Right off the bat, this film feels very reminiscent of previous coming-of-age films. But these similarities don’t work towards a disadvantage. For myself, one major part of coming-of-age comedies is that they do follow a specific, mapped out formula, and it is the small changes to the specifics that make certain films stand out. Here, it is the more unrestrained look at lives of teenagers in 2025, while remaining very aware of the challenges often faced by trans youth that make the film one of its own. Sure, this approach seems a bit familiar to the likes of Bottoms, but it’s approach to a queer and trans story that focusses more on the comedic aspects, rather than the difficulties of a queer coming out, allow it to stand on its own.

This film will surely bring up topics of the importance of a wide breadth of genres that queer films are allowed to exist in. Often times, the trans character exists only in a supporting role to make fun of, or in a dramatic film that focusses solely on the difficulties of this identity. With She’s the He, we are reminded that a trans coming out story and coming-of-age film can be fun and hilarious. The more serious aspects of this story are touched on, but within the expected formula of a coming-of-age story, being the low point that our protagonist has come to be expected to face at the end of the second act. But by expertly using the formula we have come to know for this type of film, we know it won’t last. It is an unfortunate part of Ethan’s journey, but we know we will see the light in the third act, come to be expected in this type of narrative.

Even with these more serious issues, the film never takes itself too seriously, and remains funny and true to form throughout. We are able to laugh at the extremes the film takes, without Ethan ever being the punchline of the joke, instead laughing at the heteronormative expectations of the high school locker room.

All of this could not have been accomplished without a standout lead performance from Misha Osherovich who plays Ethan. Their understanding of Ethan’s story is apparent in every scene, and the subtleties they portray in Ethan’s face as she begins her journey add to the overall love we cannot help but feel for our leading star. The ensemble as a whole really sticks the landing, often playing new takes on characters we have come to expect that feel more like the high school we know now.

There are times when certain aspects of the film, the writing or the way students talk to each other can come off as a little bit awkward, but in a setting like high school, this often meshes perfectly with the overall awkwardness of this time in all of our lives. Some aspects of the film don’t fully work for me, including a montage at the end that goes a bit too far for the joke to properly land. But overall, each aspect is used to further ensure the butt of every joke is heteronormativity and the overall high school experience, even if it is sometimes taken a bit too far.

She’s the He is a strong new addition to the world of the coming-of-age film, told through a queer lens. When Ethan learns she is trans after dressing up like a girl to sneak into the girls locker room with her best friend, the film follows a predictable yet fresh take on what this type of film can be. Allowing queer and trans stories to exist outside of the sad and morose, She’s the He is paving a new path for a more positive representation of trans characters in the world of film.

She’s the He was screened at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival.